Regarding marijuana, there has been a huge turn around in policy in different regions of the United States of America. In 1937, the federal government made marijuana illegal by passing the Marihuana Tax Act. Ever since the early to mid-20th century, loads of anti-marijuana propaganda has been churned out in the form of movies, television shows, public service announcements, advertisements, textbooks and other methods. It was accused of being just as bad as harder substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, opiates, opioids and alcohol.

In reality, marijuana users do not experience the same severe effects as people who consume those harder substances. There are some experts who say that heavy, habitual marijuana use—particularly among those who start young—results in brain swelling and cognitive defects. However, anything is bad if obsessively consumed. In fact, there are people who eat too much food and suffer from health problems and death because of it. Does that mean that we should outlaw various foods? Some foods have very high amounts of added sugar and fat. Does that mean that we should start to outlaw candy, cake and ice cream? There are also some people who say that smoking marijuana gives people cancer. However, the cancer comes from inhaling smoke, not from the marijuana, itself.

Over the years, marijuana has been taboo and talked down about, though it has also been joked about quite a bit. The frequency of its use and the general, apparent lack serious, long term affects has raised questions about whether it should really be illegal. There have been numerous studies that show the health benefits for both healthy people and those with ailments.

Legalization

California made a land-mark decision in 1996 to allow medical marijuana. In 2014, another landmark happened when Colorado made recreational use legal. Numerous other states followed. So, now there are some states that only allow medical marijuana and some states that allow both medical and recreational marijuana.

Nevada

Different states have their conditions for selling and using marijuana. In Nevada, a person must be 18 years old to legally do medical marijuana, and 21 years old to use recreational marijuana. According to Green Bits, a person who runs a marijuana store can stay open at any time. In Las Vegas, it is common for marijuana shops to be open all of the time.

People who plan to open marijuana shops should understand the fact that they have to invest a lot of money in the safety of their businesses. In Nevada, they have to be ready to spend at least $100,000.00 on mandatory security measures. It is understandable why a pot shop would have to spend money on the best security measures.

In Nevada, there are annual licensing fees that climb into the tens of thousands. How much a license costs depends on the service. For example, cultivation facilities pay $30,000, product manufacturers pay $10,000.00, testing facilities pay $15,000 and retail stores pay $20,000.00. These are only fees for the state, and people who plan on getting into the marijuana business in Las Vegas have to pay separate fees to the city—in addition to the fees that they have to pay to the state.